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Dropbox Will Focus More on Content Rather Than Files

Dropbox has recently given All Things D a look at what users can expect from Dropbox in 2013. The new web-only features change the way users interact with their files within Dropbox. To help users share and view their content easily, there will be photo albums, document quick previews, and easier sharing to Facebook and Twitter.

While these features seem like ordinary upgrades to the service, it signals Dropbox's desire to be more than just a cloud storage service. It also wants to allow users to view, share and consume their content easily without relying on third-party services or apps.

“We’re moving away from a file-system centric view to a more content-focused view,” explained Ramesh Balakrishnan, the company’s engineering lead on photos. So, for instance, Dropbox previously hadn’t had a notion of a photo album. In the new system, once photos are grouped together into an album, Dropbox understands them to remain that way, no matter if the files are moved around or subsets of them are shared elsewhere.